99er Cindy Paoletti rates “Hart of the Matter” guest post titled: THE AMERICAN DREAM BECOMES A NIGHTMARE FOR MILLIONS.
Remember Velma Hart, the woman who gave Obama a piece of her mind at a town hall meeting? Well, Hart of the Matter is the blog on her website.
Cindy Paoletti, like millions of others in this economic downturn, reached the end of her 99 weeks of unemployment benefits over one year ago. The 57-year-old worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. for almost 24 years, before being outsourced to India unexpectedly.
The poignant blog post written by Cindy Paoletti reads in it’s entirety:
The long term unemployed who have exhausted all unemployment benefits are facing a nightmare they can't seem to wake up from. We live day to day, wondering where our next dollar is coming from to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table for our families. For many, sleeping in the back seat of their car or in a tent in the woods has become the normal way of life; dumpster dining and panhandling on the streets when desperation and hunger can no longer be ignored.
We used to be hard working Americans who paid our taxes and lived by the rules. But due to a bad economy many of us lost jobs that we went to every day – some performing very well but budgets no longer could support their position. Now our unemployment has been cut off, there are still no jobs to be found and we no longer can contribute to the economy. Our American dream has become an American nightmare.
We live under the hand of a Government that no longer cares about its citizens, and spends most of its time catering to the rich and corporations, while cutting funding to the most important entitlements that the unemployed need to survive. This same government has forced millions to lose everything they worked their entire lives for only to now to be forced to live in poverty. To make matters worse, they blame the unemployed for the horrendous economy this country is suffering.
Even our President, Barack Obama has ignored the plight of the unemployed. Promising job creation that never comes. The "New Working America" Obama has just spoken about will leave our children to suffer the same way that we are now. When you are unemployed with no income for months (a year now for me) where will you get the money to send your children to college? The media keeps repeating Obama’s comments that a high school diploma is a thing of the past. To get a job in the future you will need a degree and a college education. Ironically, the long term unemployed who have these degrees can't find work.
We can't wait for the jobs of the future, we need jobs NOW! Until those jobs are created, we need a life line to survive. Unemployment is insurance. Congress needs to start taking care of the people that put them in office. They work for us, which is something they seem to forget. I dare any one of them to walk in our shoes for 1 year with no income, no savings, nothing left of any value to sell. Worried and stressed out day after day, which is destroying our health. Let them see how they are contributing to the suffering of the unemployed with their selfishness and heartless attitudes.
The long term unemployed will not stand by much longer waiting for the help we should have received over a year ago. There will be more of the same as happening in Wisconsin as we fight for our right of the pursuit of happiness. Congress needs to live the same way they expect the middle class to live. No more perks and freebies. They need to pay for their health care, (the same health care they choose for the country) no lifetime retirement for only working two years, pay their own way in life rather then the government giving them everything. Give up your American dream and live our nightmare.
WELL SAID CINDY!!!!!
[The donation button below is for Paladinette. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]